Sad to say goodbye to Venice this morning, but our journey out went as smoothly as possible. We got our vaporetto tickets (only hiccup: their credit card machine was broken and we had to pay cash). Our boat came pretty quickly and we made the scenic voyage back to the train station. And this time we stowed our bags inside the cabin, where they had a chart of the route. So we always knew exactly where we were. And the best part? We’d allowed plenty of time, so we weren’t in any rush.
I’ll say again, sure was hard to say goodbye to Venice. Would have loved to stay longer. Marsha wants to move there. During the whole voyage (as I did the whole stay), I marveled at how every building on a canal has a dock and everything is built around the water. Seriously, it’s just like being in Disney World. Only better because it’s real.
We grabbed a couple of donuts while we waited patiently for our train. We had two trains today: a high-speed train to Milan, then a local train to Varenna on Lake Como (George and Amal said hey).
Talk about two different worlds. For the high-speed train, I booked Premium Class. We had a table, lots of room, entertainment, and an attendant who came by with newspapers, magazines, snacks, and drinks. I didn’t realize that the snacks were included, otherwise I would have gotten some chips. The only downside was that we had to sit across from each other. I’d actually tried to select seats side-by-side, but the system wouldn’t let me.
The trip to Milan was just great . The terrain was similar to what we’d already seen, plus we were on the inside row, so it was hard to look out the window. I had a clear view of the destination screen, so there was no problem knowing where we were at any given point or missing our stop (the train kept going after Milan). So we just relaxed, I read and worked on my blog, while Marsha watched Gladiator on the iPad.
The Milan train station (Milano Centrale) was smaller than expected, but beautiful and very art-deco. We arrived a little behind schedule, so we just wandered around and took in the details. The wait wasn’t that long before it was time to board our next train to Varenna.
I didn’t see anything that determined which cars were second class, so we just picked one and went with it. I asked a fellow passenger (an Englishman, after he’d asked me about arrival time) and he thought it was. So we found some seats and got comfortable. Any doubts I had were quickly put to rest as people kept piling in and some had to stand. The fellow in front of us offered his seat to a mother with a baby, who then popped open her shirt and started breastfeeding. I was about to offer my seat to her daughter (who was standing with Dad), but a young man beat me to it. I was glad for them when they all got seats together after the next stop.
About halfway into journey, we started seeing mountains. And they were incredibly beautiful! The towns below were a little run-down. Eventually, we started seeing the Lake and couldn’t stop watching. So much breathtaking beauty! And so glad we’d made the effort to come here.
Once we got off the train, we had to find our way to the hotel. I saw a couple of cabs, but knew that it was only a fifteen minute walk. Which seemed to be what everyone else was doing. So, we followed the crowd and drug our suitcases down a tiny uphill road. It was a chore, but once we made it to the top, it was fairly easy from then on. And the brief glimpses of the lake between the buildings were just beautiful!
Our hotel, the Royal Victoria, is just beautiful. Marsha outdid herself on hotel choices. Our lake view room is snug, but just fine for the two of us. The porter was really nice and very enthusiastic to show us the room. The more I responded in Italian, the more he spoke it, so I’m not sure how much Marsha understood.
Once we’d gotten settled, we were ready to explore and get something to eat. We went down to the garden bar overlooking the lake, and all I can say is WOW! How incredible! There are just no words. Later we debated which was more beautiful, this or Venice? It’s a tough call. Though Varenna has more natural beauty. God gets most of the credit here.
We tried to eat at the garden bar, but they didn’t open until 7:30. So we ventured out and checked out the little cafes across the street. We picked the one with the better menu, which turned out to be not great after all. Marsha didn’t like her sausage dish (I thought it tasted good) and just ate her fries. My dish was pasta with dried and salted fish, which (the fish) looked to be specific to the area. It tasted good, but the fish smell was overwhelming, and the fish itself was all ground up into tiny bits. Dessert wasn’t much of an improvement. My apple torte was okay but basic, but Marsha was really disappointed in her profiteroles (one of her favorites), which was mostly pastry balls covered in chocolate icing. So we switched. End result: I didn’t feel well later and will happily spare you the details.
After dinner, we followed the path down towards the lake and found several places that would have been much better. That’s what we got for not venturing out further. The steady stream of people ordering take-out pizza should have tipped us off.
But the village is amazing! Tiny little stone paths, stone steps, and the lake! Everywhere you turn it looks like a storybook! We both felt like Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: “I want THIS!” No wonder George Clooney has a place here.
After we were finished exploring, we went back to the hotel to relax and call it a night. We found a TV channel that was showing re-runs of the new Hawaii 5-0, which we used to watch for the first couple of seasons. At first we watched in dubbed in Italian, but then Marsha figured out how to switch it to English with Italian subtitles. It looked like a good show to help with my Italian studies, since the dialogue isn’t too complicated.
The slower pace for this half of the trip is already helping. We’d contemplated trying to cut things short by a few days and go home early. But getting here had changed our minds. Thankfully, we have nothing scheduled tomorrow except dinner reservations. And that is a lot in which to look forward.
Ciao!
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